Opening scene. Yay or nay?

Yay for 1989, back then it was fresh and still innovative to show a flashback explaining the backstory of an icon's trademark.

Nay for the past 20 years on, it has been done so many other times that now it just looks superfluous and silly, the only useful info in it is his relationship with his father that covers 2 minutes of that whole sequence.

And even worse it is all just a shameless plug for the crappy young Indy series.

It was ahight.

It was fine..

Nay...

Corny, but fun. Anything's better after the heinous Temple of Doom crap.

It really is a brilliantly crafted opening that both foreshadows the climax of the film and makes the ending a classic bookending - -

- both the beginning and the end of the film features a group riding on horseback in the desert which leads to Indy entering a cave and trying to obtain a historical artifact of religious significance for the purposes of winning his father's acceptance and approval.

I thought it was fine. A new and welcome addition to show Indy as a youngster in the series and overall a good action set piece to start things off. Nay for the obviously fake giraffe heads though.

I'd say Yay.

It shows several iconic Indy things:
* Indy's love of archaeology and languages from a young age
* How he got his fear of snakes, even though he actually handles one moments before with no fear
* How he got the scar on his chin, by using a whip for the first time to survive a confrontation with a lion
* How he got his famous hat, it was handed to him by one of the actual thieves he tried to stop
* Indiana, the Jones' famous pet dog from who Indy got his nickname

That's all I can think of from the top of my head, but I'm sure there are others.